MIAMI (Ticker) -- Helped by the ejection of Alonzo Mourning, the
Indiana Pacers are one game behind the Miami Heat in the Eastern
Conference standings and one game ahead in the season series.

Chris Mullin led the frontcourt dominance with 17 points and 10
rebounds as the Pacers built a big lead and held on for a 94-89
victory over the Heat, who had three streaks snapped.

Mourning, the Heat's top scorer and rebounder and a leading Most
Valuable Player candidate, was ejected with 5:11 to play in the
second quarter by referee Ted Bernhardt. With Miami trailing
31-27, Mourning was whistled for his third foul and argued,
picking up two quick technical fouls.

"I was about to turn away, but I still wanted to talk to him,"
said Mourning, who scored six points. "I didn't want him to
give me a fourth foul. I wanted to avoid that situation. I'm
disappointed, but you live and learn. Referees aren't perfect.
We both made mistakes. He regrets it and I regret it. I picked
a heck of a game to do it."

"It was a terrible call to get his third foul," Heat coach Pat
Riley said. "You can get a `T,' but you can't push it. But when
he got his third foul, he was going to be on the bench anyway,
and we didn't handle it."

Without their low-post scorer and defensive presence, the Heat
never led again and had their 11-game home winning streak
stopped, one shy of the club record set in 1993. Miami also had
its six-game overall winning streak come to an end.

The Heat had held 11 straight foes under 90 points, a league
record. One of those was an 85-72 loss at Indiana, the only
team to beat Miami in 12 games since February 26.

"It wasn't our fault (Mourning) wasn't there," said Pacers
forward Antonio Davis, who had 17 points and nine rebounds. "You
got to control your emotions. It was a big win for us. Miami
beat us in our building and when you play the best team, you
have to play your best game to beat them."

"I just thought we weren't right, we weren't ready to play,"
Riley said. "Defensively, we gave them everything they wanted.
You can make all kinds of excuses about Zo getting ejected, but
they are a veteran team and an experienced team."

Indiana (17-7) leads the Central Division but is one game behind
Atlantic Division-leading Miami (18-6) for the best record in
the East and home-court advantage until the NBA Finals. The
teams meet again April 18 in Miami.

"We read the newspapers so we knew it was a big game," said
Pacers guard Reggie Miller, who scored 11 points. "This was a
good game to win in a hostile environment."

Despite missing 12 of their first 13 shots, the Heat held a
19-18 lead after one quarter. The Pacers grabbed the lead early
in the second period and Mourning was tossed midway through the
quarter.

"Zo was upset about that call," Heat guard Terry Porter said. "I
was trying to contain him, Ted was looking at him the whole
time. He didn't like his body language. After he was ejected,
I didn't want him to do anything stupid and miss the Utah game
(on Tuesday.)"

"After that, it was still a basketball game," Pacers forward Sam
Perkins said. "We weren't going to get caught up in all that
hype. Overall, coming down on their home turf to win was
important. We stayed solid and maintained a professional
attitude."

Indiana's Dale Davis made a short jumper and Miller hit a leaner
to complete a 7-0 run that opened the lead to 36-27 with 3:10 to
go before halftime.

With Mourning ejected, reserve center Duane Causwell and forward
P.J. Brown had to guard Pacers 7-4 center Rik Smits and small
forwards Clarence Weatherspoon and Keith Askins had to contend
with the bigger Davises at power forward.

Indiana led 43-35 at halftime and took charge behind Smits, who
scored all of his 10 points in the third quarter. His nine-foot
jumper widened the advantage to 60-48 with 6:19 left. Mullin
scored 12 points in the period, which ended with Indiana holding
a 73-61 lead.

Two free throws by Antonio Davis capped another 7-0 spurt and
gave the Pacers their largest lead at 80-63 with 8:53 to play.
Indiana still led 88-77 after a basket by Davis with 3:52 left
before Miami made a final push.

Tim Hardaway scored seven of his 28 points in a two-minute span
to cut the deficit to 91-86 with 1:35 remaining. The Pacers
missed a shot and Hardaway began a fast break, but Dale Davis
poked away the ball from behind and Indiana's Travis Best sealed
it with two free throws.

Mark Jackson had 13 points and seven assists and Dale Davis
added seven and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who shot 49
percent (35-of-71) from the field, the best mark against the
Heat this season. Indiana held a 43-41 rebounding edge.

Porter scored 15 points and Weatherspoon added 13 for the Heat,
who shot 41 percent (33-of-80). Brown had 10 points and five
rebounds.

"We're at our best when we play four games in five nights,"
Riley said. "When we get days off, we lose our edge. The rest
makes you stale and flat."